Counterview

By Md. Abu Saim*  The signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan on 7 August 2026 in Mecca marks a significant moment in contemporary geopolitics. Long anticipated across much of the Muslim world, the pact establishes that an armed attack on any one of the three signatories will be treated as an attack on all, while emphasizing that the arrangement is strictly defensive and directed only at external aggression. 

By Harsh Thakor*  Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (1918–1993) -- whose seminal work "What is Living and What Is Dead in Indian Philosophy" completes 50 years in 2026 -- occupies a distinctive position in the landscape of Indian philosophy, primarily for his sustained efforts to examine the tradition through a Marxist lens. Born into an illustrious family in undivided Bengal, he excelled academically, topping the University of Calcutta in both his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy Honours in 1939 and his Master of Arts in Philosophy in 1942. 

By Syed Ali Mujtaba   An extraordinary event at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, where a cutout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was depicted as Lord Ram and worshipped, has raised serious questions about the sanctity and credibility of an institution that is expected to uphold the independence of the press.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan   After eleven years at the helm of the BJP's digital machine, Amit Malviya is gone. The party has said little about why. But his removal comes at a politically revealing moment, when India's digital battlefield has changed, young voters are challenging established political narratives, and misinformation has become one of the biggest threats to democratic discourse.

By Kumar Krishnan*  Naxalism is not a new word in India's political vocabulary. Nearly six decades ago, the term emerged from Naxalbari, in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, becoming associated with an armed political movement rooted in questions of land, class conflict, peasant discontent and Maoist ideology. The Naxalbari uprising shook Indian politics. 

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan*   There are moments in a journalist's life when a news story refuses to remain just another headline. It becomes intertwined with memory, conviction, and identity. The conviction of Tarun Tejpal by the Bombay High Court in the 2013 sexual assault case is one such moment.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan    In every democracy, governments have a legitimate responsibility to inform citizens about welfare schemes, public health campaigns, disaster warnings, and development initiatives. However, an equally important democratic principle is that taxpayers' money should never become a vehicle for political self-promotion.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan   For nearly three decades, Bankipur was regarded as one of the Bharatiya Janata Party's safest urban constituencies in Bihar. Winning the seat had become almost routine for the party, which cultivated an aura of electoral invincibility in the heart of Patna. That perception has now been dramatically overturned. Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor defeated the BJP by nearly 19,000 votes in a by-election that may prove to be far more consequential than the victory of a single legislator.

By Vikas Meshram*  A government that refuses to bend before the will of its people always risks breaking. ​The resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, following an intense youth-led agitation under the satirically named "Cockroach Janata Party" (CJP), is not merely a case of a minister stepping down over a paper-leak scandal. It marks a significant turning point in a party system long dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a system in which a fragmented opposition has rarely found real footing.

By Hidayat Parmar*  Every society is remembered not only for its rulers and institutions, but also for those who dared to ask difficult questions. Such individuals become the moral conscience of their times. They challenge easy certainties, defend truth over convenience, and remind citizens that democracy survives only when people continue to think critically.

By A Representative   The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has strongly condemned the reported retrenchment of more than 120 employees from the TV Today Network, calling the layoffs "arbitrary" and urging affected media professionals to organise and fight for their rights.

By Rumaan Mecci*   Friends, we have finally reached an epochal moment in history. The media has now become worthy of ruling this country. I suggest we do away with the courts, the police, Parliament, and educational institutions altogether. The media has got it all covered.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  American capitalism has long promised the pursuit of the so-called American Dream —a society built on individual freedom, free markets, consumer choice, and competition. According to this ideal, hard work, determination, and innovation would enable individuals to prosper in an open economic system where success depends on merit rather than privilege. Yet widening inequality, stagnant wages, growing poverty, and recurring economic crises have steadily eroded this promise, exposing the contradictions between the rhetoric and the reality of American capitalism.

By Harsh Thakor*   The cricketing world mourns the loss of Sir Garfield Sobers , who passed away at his home in Barbados at the age of 89, just eleven days short of his 90th birthday. His departure marks the end of an era, leaving a void that can never be filled. Sobers was not merely a cricketer; he was the embodiment of sporting excellence, a prophet who descended upon the cricket pitch and redefined the very essence of the game. To watch Sobers play was to witness art in its purest form, a masterpiece crafted with bat and ball that transcended the boundaries of sport and entered the realm of the supernatural.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The digital revolution has not only created a post-truth society shaped by an industry of manipulation, misinformation, and deepfakes; it has also fundamentally transformed the global scam economy, affecting millions of people worldwide. Criminals increasingly exploit digital platforms and technologies to defraud unsuspecting individuals. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), people lost more than US$1.03 trillion to digital scams, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has described the rapid growth of online fraud and cybercrime as a "scamdemic."

By A Representative   The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has expressed concern over what it describes as a growing pattern of arbitrary administrative action affecting journalists, following the restoration of senior journalist and author Samrat Choudhury's passport by the Kolkata Passport Office.

By A Representative   The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has issued a strong statement condemning what it describes as a "wilfully mischievous misrepresentation" of its National Secretary, human rights activist and writer Seema Azad, following the circulation of a purported statement allegedly issued by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) – North Coordination Committee (NCC).

By Mohd Ziyauallah Khan    A recent opinion article published in The Guardian , titled "Can Narendra Modi Accept Any Medal?", reignited a fierce debate about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's international recognition and the moral legacy of his leadership. The article argued that while Modi has received numerous state honours and awards from foreign governments, a more fundamental question remains unanswered: Can a leader be celebrated internationally while presiding over growing concerns about democratic decline, social polarization , and civil liberties at home? The controversy quickly spread across political and media circles. Supporters dismissed the article as biased, while critics argued that it reflected concerns already expressed by international democracy watchdogs , human rights organizations, and sections of the global press. Yet beyond political loyalties lies a deeper question: How should the success of a government be measured, especially when it...

By Nava Thakuria*  A public debate has emerged following a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs that possession of an Indian passport alone does not conclusively establish Indian citizenship. The Union government has also claimed on several occasions that documents such as Aadhaar, PAN, voter identity cards, driving licences, or school certificates are not, by themselves, definitive proof of citizenship. Indian citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the relevant provisions of the Constitution of India.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*   Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic fantasy. It is rapidly becoming the invisible architect of our daily lives—influencing what we eat, who we befriend, how we heal, and where we work. In the years ahead, AI will not just facilitate human choices; it will increasingly determine them. This inescapable presence presents a stark paradox: AI holds the potential to deepen democracy, decentralise power, and decolonise knowledge, yet it also threatens to entrench the very inequalities it could help dismantle.